


Tyranny

by whenyoudesertme (phrenk)



Series: Tyranny [1]
Category: Arashi (Band), Japanese Actor RPF, Johnny's Entertainment
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-10-19
Updated: 2009-10-19
Packaged: 2017-10-13 02:30:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/131846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phrenk/pseuds/whenyoudesertme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One moment can change something that's been the same for years.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tyranny

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted [here](http://whenyoudesertme.livejournal.com/10660.html).

Ohno crouched carefully a few feet away from the startled animal and paused. His eyes weren't quite meeting the frightened ones locked on him, he wasn't offering a challenge of any sort. There was a moment where everyone in the TSD studio held their breath and then Ohno reached out slowly with one hand.

It was a hand Aiba had known for a decade or more, the long fingers and delicate veins, and all the things it could do. Aiba had held that hand hundreds of times without thinking about it. Now he stared at it, transfixed, wide dark eyes mirroring the wary animal's. The quiet strength of Ohno, the patience, the _force_ inside him that felt like it would go on forever even behind his silly faces and blank stares, the same force that was overpowering when he worked to let it shine, Aiba felt all of it so suddenly that he couldn't look away.

The animal took a tiny step forward and Aiba felt something close around his heart. Ohno hadn't moved a millimeter, hadn't even shifted his gaze, his compact body holding everyone present rapt. Aiba felt like everything was changing and he couldn't stop it. He was staring and couldn't stop, one wide-palmed hand was squeezing in his chest and if the tension didn't break soon his heart would never be completely his own again.

Then somehow the animal was in Ohno's arms, and Ohno was stroking it gently behind the ears and murmuring soothingly. Aiba could move again, and think again, too, but all he could think was, _"Oh shit."_

* * * * * * * *

Ohno has known about his feelings for Aiba for more than five years now. He loved Arashi as a whole, and each member separately, he loved warm, honest Sho, quirky, passionate Jun, prickly, rewarding Nino. He'd loved all of them for so long. Somewhere along the line his love for Aiba had changed. He neither welcomed nor fought it, accepting it as what was and going on the same.

Aiba was an open book, at least in his love for Arashi, and Ohno knew that Aiba loved him exuberantly--but not in a way that ever thought, _"If we weren't Johnny's, maybe ..."_

Ohno hasn't spent five years pining for Aiba. He meant it when he said Arashi is bliss, but it wasn't all there is. He had his family, and friends, and he'd been fortunate enough to love more than one person deeply and be loved in return. Adding Arashi to that and Ohno just felt lucky. He was thankful for his life, even if he sometimes wished he could set his own schedule or do things without always considering the fact that he was representing Arashi.

Years of struggle, years of happiness, years of never needing to question a single relationship within Arashi, they've left Ohno unprepared for when things change.

* * * * * * * *

In the dressing room after the taping, Ohno meets Aiba's eyes and feels a current run through him. Aiba looks shell-shocked, like up has become down and he's afraid to sit down and fall on the ceiling. Ohno goes through the motions of getting ready to leave, not wanting to spook him when he was so obviously skittish.

He suggests a drink and feels Aiba preparing to decline and scurry off, but he'd seen the look in Aiba's eyes when he first came in the room, and that shell-shocked look had everything to do with Ohno. Ohno doesn't feel too bad about giving a magnificent pout in advance of the refusal and changing it into a stammering acceptance.

They set off for the car they were sharing and Ohno walks a little further away than usual, giving Aiba space to settle down. In the backseat of the car, heading toward the promised drink, Ohno slides his right hand slowly across the fuzz of the seat. Aiba is looking out the window and jumps slightly when their hands meet, and Ohno curls his fingers around Aiba's palm. He doesn't know what he's going to say, but he's never worried about that much. Aiba is important, Aiba is precious, but Aiba is also _Aiba_ , and neither of them would ever let anything come in the way of their friendship.

"Aiba-chan." Aiba looks up from their entwined hands with big, frightened eyes. His hand jerks back but Ohno holds on.

Ohno looks him in the eyes calmly and says, "Arashi comes first." Something in Aiba seems to wilt abruptly even as he nods decisively and tries to smile. He tries again to pull his hand away but Ohno isn't done.

He waits until Aiba meets his eyes again, and this time Aiba's are suspiciously shiny-looking. He waits a bit, and squeezes Aiba's hand reassuringly.

"Aiba-chan. We're Arashi too." Aiba's eyes widen even further and Ohno smiles at him.

"Leader," Aiba breathes. "Can we really have..." He looks so hopeful and uncertain, and any doubt Ohno had (if he had any at all) is washed away. He puts on his best stern face and tries not to smile through it.

"Am I Leader or not!?" And Aiba laughs, and the tension breaks, and then Aiba's hugging him as best he can with both their seatbelts still on. Ohno needs to feel all of Aiba wrapped around him so he slips out of his seatbelt, and the car gives a twang that alerts the driver.

"Um..." Ohno starts, sheepish, with Aiba still holding on for dear life. "Is it all right if you just take us to Aiba's place, instead?" The driver nods, trying not to laugh, as Aiba realizes Ohno's seatbelt is off and drags him into his lap to hug him properly.

Ohno decides to take the initiative and turns his head, kissing Aiba's jaw sweetly and putting a hand on the back of his neck. Aiba shifts and they're eye to eye once more. Their foreheads touch, and Ohno's eyes close, and he whispers something he's been saying for years without being able to show how much he means it.

"I love you." And Aiba smiles, and nods tearily, and tilts his head. Their first kiss is warm and soft, and a bit salty from Aiba's tears, and Ohno has never felt luckier.


End file.
